Global environment facility governments of colombia, ecuador, peru and venezuela

4.2Sustainability

58. 
    Fostering conservation and sustainable use of Paramo’s natural resources makes sustainability an inherent part of project logic. The project presents strong factors to support the continued achievement of project objectives for a long time after its conclusion. These include the fostering of an enabling legislative framework, the involvement of stakeholders and institutions and the strengthened capacities of key players at all levels for and increased awareness of Paramo conservation. The project is tightly integrated within stated policy and objectives of the participating countries, particularly Decision 523 (D523) of the Andean Community (CAN), of which Colombia, Ecuador, Peru and Venezuela are members) entitled "Regional Biodiversity Strategy for the Tropical Andean Countries". This unprecedented, officially binding resolution is based on national strategy documents from all Andean countries. D523 identifies the Paramo as a priority trans-boundary ecosystem that should be the subject of regional cooperation on biodiversity conservation and sustainable use. The activities of this project have been designed to be fully in line with the objectives of Decision 523. This integration of project objectives into national and regional plans maximizes the acceptance and sustainability of project outputs.
    

59. 
    In addition to the above, project components and activities (like environmental planning; policy development; establishment of incentives for Paramo conservation) do not need financial resources after the project time boundary. These are processes to be completed during project time frame that do not involve the creation of new management structures that would need financing after project termination date. The management structures that are crucial for project success, like municipal water companies and irrigation boards, are project stakeholders that already receive and will continue to receive funding from external sources to the project. The replication strategy, by which Paramo conservation initiatives will be initiated and strengthened in other areas, follow the same strategy of the FSP and as such do not entail the creation of structures that depend on continuous financing or subsidies to productive activities that would need financing after project termination date.
    

60. 
    Financial sustainability of demonstration activities at field sites is dependent on the economic feasibility of these activities. The work performed during PDF-B indicates that demonstration practices to be implemented at Project Intervention Sites (PIS) are economically feasible. Though it should be expected that some of these activities may fail for specific farmers in specific sites, on average they are expected to be financially sustainable.
    

61. 
    Finally even though it is not related to the financial sustainability of the project, it should be noted that a significant increase in investments in Paramo conservation at different levels has been evident in the last 5 years accompanying a raise in awareness, particularly in Colombia and in Ecuador. Some individual international donor organizations like CI and the Swiss and Dutch governments have also earmarked donations for high Andean ecosystem conservation. The project has benefited much from this increased interest as it has facilitated the co-financing of this project, particularly for Component 5 (replication).
    

4.3Replicability

63. 
    The project is in many aspects conceived as a pilot project to establish and validate pioneering mechanisms and practices for sustainable management of Paramo. Replicability of project results, including upscaling and outscaling of intervention outputs is thus an integral part of project design. Replication is a crosscutting activity as well as a project component. This is based on formal and informal replication mechanisms and supported by several factors within the project’s components:
    

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  Component 5 (replication) has been specifically designed to establish mechanisms for the systematic replication of project lessons in other areas and at other levels. This means that a commensurate budget allocation exists within the project, especially reserved for activities designed to multiply the positive impacts of project interventions in areas beyond project boundaries, after the project’s conclusion. This allocation amounts to 7.5% of GEF funds and 14.6% of the GEF increment (including co-financing). This component will strengthen existing Paramo Working Groups and create new ones to function as replication platforms. The former are platforms of environmental NGOs working in Paramo that meet regularly to interchange experiences and information. It will promote exchanges between local stakeholders and actors at provincial, national and watershed level and promote institutional alliances for Paramo conservation. Specifically, the replication strategy, executed by the working groups, will identify and document best lessons from the project, establish agreements with stakeholders from other Paramo sites to foster replication and support inter institutional and cross sectoral coordination towards mainstreaming of Paramo conservation in development planning. To this end, specific outputs have been included in the logical framework of the project, clearly depicting replication goals. Project preparation activities have already undertaken an exhaustive analysis of Paramo areas where lessons learned from the project may be replicated and have made a preliminary identification of the most suitable ones with the highest potential of favorable impact. For further information on this issue please refer to the section dealing with Component 5 in the PROJECT ACTIVITIES/COMPONENTS AND EXPECTED RESULTS section, the Logical Framework Matrix in Annex 1, or the Incremental Cost Analysis in Annex 2
  

In addition, the remaining components of the project support replication activities in Component 5 as follows:

• 
  The pilot sites selected for the implementation of Component 1 (sustainable management) are representative of other Paramo areas beyond the project’s limits. Hence the PMP developed at these sites and the principles to establish them are applicable with minor site specific changes to sites with similar geomorphologic and socio-economic characteristics as well as practically the same threats and barriers to biodiversity conservation.
  
• 
  Component 2 (policy) will develop an ecoregional policy strategy with an ecosystem approach for Paramo. This component will integrate policy options at local, regional, national and ecoregional levels. Hence policies developed locally will influence and shape policies of larger scope, and conversely, these broader policies will have an effect on other areas in Paramo as well. Alongside the dynamic between different levels of policy development, the project will also help to coordinate legislative aspects that affect Paramo between relevant sectors, adding another dimension of integration to its results.
  
• 
  Component 3 (capacity building) will develop an Andean regional training program, targeting various stakeholder groups at different levels. This program will greatly contribute to the up- and outscaling of project experiences. This component will also execute an experience exchange plan, including observation tours between communities and internships of key stakeholders, further contributing to the broader application of project impacts and lessons.
  
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  Component 4 (communication) also contributes to the replicability of project interventions by reaching out to a number of key stakeholder groups. It will do so through education programs with three different approaches (formal, extracurricular and supplementary), targeting key players at different levels of decision making within and outside of the initial PIS (local, national and Andean). Dissemination of relevant information for replication will be further supported by the establishment of a Paramo Information System.